Bright & Shiny
New Facilities & Programs
As part of a multi-year initiative, TCC is creating “sticky spaces” on each campus, designed to enrich student and staff interaction outside the classroom. By outfitting certain areas with furniture and amenities needed to foster collaborative discussion, learning and socializing, TCC believes students and staff will stay at campus longer (and feel more comfortable doing so). The Learning Studios at South Campus and Trinity River Campus, and experiential classrooms at Northeast and Northwest Campuses are complete. These spaces provide flexible environments in which instructors can experiment with different ways of delivering their subject matter.
TCC introduced Innovation Forums on all five campuses as a cutting-edge process to provide TCC employees, as well as the general public, an opportunity to vet new ideas for projects and programs across the District and allocate funding accordingly. Innovation Forum liaisons guide employees through the three-step design process to determine how well new ideas support TCC’s institutional goals. The following projects have resulted:
Early college high schools enable eligible students to earn high school and college credit simultaneously, graduating with both a high school diploma and an associate degree. In partnership with the Arlington Independent School District, a new Early College High School opened in August at Southeast Campus (see our article “A Sneak Peek Inside ECHS”). The first year of the Early College High School also opened in August at Northeast Campus in partnership with the Grapevine–Colleyville Independent School District and the remainder of the renovation for the second year will be complete in time for August 2015 classes. The Trinity River TABS (Texas Academy of Biomedical Sciences) opened in August 2014 for Fall classes. A new building is being designed and construction will start this year. It will be complete in time for August 2015 classes for Early College High School at the South Campus, in partnership with the Fort Worth Independent School District.
Construction is continuing on the Energy Technology Center (pictured right) on the northwestern edge of South Campus. This new building is scheduled for completion in August 2015. The newest Center of Excellence in the TCC system will position TCC as one of the nation’s premier training institutions for commercial and industrial air conditioning. With 10 classrooms and 18 labs, TCC’s Energy Technology Center will be the largest of its kind in the nation and will accommodate much needed expansion of the Heating, Air Conditioning and Refrigeration Technology Programs. In addition to these existing programs, TCC will introduce new programs including Geothermal Technology, Wind Generation, Active Solar, Oil and Gas Technology and Industrial Technology once the facility opens.
New Math Emporiums were opened in August for Fall classes at Southeast and Trinity River Campuses. Designed as part of the Academic and Facilities Institutional Plan (the platform on which the Innovation Forums were built), the emporiums encourage students to work at their own pace to better understand material, providing an effective way for students to meet developmental math course requirements. The emporiums provide computer stations for instructors, lab assistants and up to 75 to 100 students, depending on location, as well as break-out rooms.
TCC opened the new Center of Excellence for Transportation, Aviation and Logistics (CEATL) at Alliance Airport for TCC Northwest’s Aviation, Technology, Logistics and Flight Training programs, in August for Fall classes (see "Elevating Key Programs" for the CEATL story).